


yes, super-hot neighbor, borrow my shower

by anenigmaticsmile



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fake Dating, M/M, Neighbor au, Possibly Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-08 21:14:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15938426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anenigmaticsmile/pseuds/anenigmaticsmile
Summary: Jongin’s super-hot next-door-neighbor needs to borrow his shower.  He’s totally cool with this.





	yes, super-hot neighbor, borrow my shower

**Friday**

He’s nearly asleep in his books when a sharp rap on the door jolts him.  He carefully unsticks himself from a dictionary before wandering slowly across the room.  Opens the heavy door.  Tries not to hyperventilate at the sight of his super-fucking-hot neighbor.  In nothing but loose, dangerously low basketball shorts.  Jongin is nearly too busy not-staring to hear the words out of Baekhyun’s mouth.

“Hey, I’m from across the hall,” Baekhyun starts, and boy does Jongin _know_ , “and I really need to shower, but mine’s been broken since Tuesday and the damn landlord still hasn’t sent someone to fix it.  Can I borrow yours?

Jongin just manages to stutter out a ‘yes’ and tries not to stare too hard as Baekhyun swaggers in.  He finds Jongin’s shower easily - all of the apartments are mirrors, Jongin reminds himself before he can think too far into it.  Baekhyun barely bothers to stick his head out the door to ask to borrow a towel, and soap, before jumping in.  Jongin stares at the door for a moment before returning to his classwork, but he isn’t quite able to focus on the foreign words swimming in front of his eyes while his incredibly-hot-neighbor-who-he-is-absolutely-crushing-on is just on the other side of his bathroom door, naked and wet in the steamy room and - no.  He refuses to let his mind go there when Baekhyun is _right there_.  

It takes fifteen agonizingly long minutes for Baekhyun to finish his shower, but Jongin almost wishes it were longer.  Nothing could have prepared himself for the sight of Baekhyun’s long, pale, slender body clothed in nothing but one of Jongin’s faded red towels carefully held around his waist.  As if that wasn’t bad enough, drops from his hair run in rivulets down his neck and his chest oh-so-enticingly and Jongin needs him out of his apartment.  Now.  Before he does something _indecent_.

Baekhyun speaks and it snaps Jongin back to reality.  “Seriously, thanks, dude.  You really saved my ass.  I’ve got a date tonight and my boyfriend would kill me if I showed up all smelly.”

“No problem, really.  Enjoy yourself,” Jongin manages before his stomach drops out his feet.

Baekhyun gives a big smile in response and saunters out the door, still wearing nothing but Jongin’s towel.

\--

**Wednesday**

The building is deserted, as usual on a Wednesday afternoon.  Only bankers get out of work this early – or servicemen returning from the field, like Jongin.  He’s bone beat and there’s grime under even his _eyelids_ he _swears_ and there’s absolutely nothing he wants more than a hot shower and a bed.  Doesn’t even particularly have to be his at this point.

But.  Talking to his incredibly hot neighbor works too.  He guesses.  Be better if he didn’t look and smell like he’s just climbed out of a sewer, but what can you do?

“Jongin!”  Baekhyun yells down the hall as his door slams behind him.  “I’ve been trying to catch you, but you haven’t been home!”

“Ah, yeah, sorry about that,” Jongin says as he nears.  “I was out of town for work.  Did you need something?”

“Yeah, I kind of accidentally stole your towel last weekend and I wanted to give it back.  I washed it and everything, don’t worry!”  Baekhyun rubs the back of his head and gives a little smile and Jongin can’t fight the returning grin.

“It’s not a problem.”  Jongin takes the towel Baekhyun offers.  “I’m pretty sure you left your clothes at my place.  I don’t have them clean yet, but I can probably get them to you tomorrow.”

“I did!  But it’s not, like, pressing or anything, just whenever you get to it you get to it is fine.”

Jongin finds himself insisting.  “I’m doing my own laundry tonight anyway.  Will you be around tomorrow?”

“Bank holiday.  I’ll be here whenever you need me,” Baekhyun replies and Jongin is _not_ imagining the innuendo in that line.  He doesn’t think, at least.  Or maybe he just hopes.

With that, they split up, Jongin struggling to walk himself in a straight line to his door.  Once inside, he pulls dirty clothes from his bag, off his back, grabs Baekhyun’s shorts and boxers from the laundry basket he’d left them in and starts up his washer on the strongest wash cycle it has.

The wash cycle is done by the time he finally pulls himself out of his hot shower, freshly scrubbed red and feeling clean for the first time in days, finally free from the oil and dirt that had built up on his skin.  He takes just enough time to throw the clothes from the washer onto the clothes horse and promptly passes out, still fully naked, on his bed, the soft comforter feeling precious on his skin.

\--

**Thursday**

To tell the truth, he’s a little disappointed by the late afternoon sunlight streaming through his curtains.  Not that he doesn’t enjoy the afternoon, he’d just hoped to be _awake_ for most of it.  Ah well, if he’d slept this long, he needed the sleep, he supposes and hauls himself off his bed to find some food and some clothing.

Half an hour later, the basic needs are satisfied and he finds himself sitting on his couch, Baekhyun’s clothes carefully folded on his knee.  _You can do this,_ he tries.  _It’s just taking the clothes over.  A bit of a talk.  Nothing bad.  You can do this.  You can go knock on Baekhyun’s door.  It’s one tiny thing.  Just one.  Just.  One._

To his utter dismay, he has to psych himself up once _again_ in front of Baekhyun’s door, just to knock.

Baekhyun opens the door immediately and all of Jongin’s words flee.  “Umm, clothes?” he tries, raising the garments in offering.  “Yours?”

Baekhyun has more a bark than a laugh and it eases Jongin.  “I mean, unless you’ve got other strange men leaving clothes at your house, probably.  D’you want to come in?”

“Uh, sure, I mean, yeah, why not, I’ll…” Jongin blathers and he _knows_ his face must be cherry red and _why_ can’t he look like even a halfway competent person in front of Baekhyun, he can’t even fathom.

There’s no judgement in Baekhyun’s face, though, not even when he trips over a coffee table and nearly plants into the couch.  The conversation starts slow, gentle, Jongin still stuttering over most of his words as he tells Baekhyun about his job as a machine repairman and asks Baekhyun about his work – a bank teller, it turns out.  Then Jongin manages to work up the courage to ask about the date.

“It was great,” Baekhyun gushes, “we just went out for dinner, no big deal, but he’d been out of town for _weeks_ and I really, really missed him.  And I was going to pay, really, I was, but it turned out my wallet was _not_ in my pocket –“

“Really,” Jongin deadpans.

“Really!  I’m really – oh, that was a joke, wasn’t it,” Baekhyun realizes and Jongin nods.  “Well, anyway, I was going to pay but didn’t – yeah – so Chanyeol picked up the whole bill without complaining at all and now he won’t let me pay him back.  He’s really sweet like that, you know.  And then we went back to his house and watched a movie and – “ Baekhyun does a weird swirl with his hand and raises his eyebrows suggestively “ – _you know_.”

Jongin really didn’t need to know.  There’s a weird brick where his brain’s supposed to be, now.  Isn’t that odd.  “I’m happy it went well,” he says tightly.

“It really did.  Thank you so much for letting me use your shower, it really saved my ass.”

“No problem.”

And Jongin really does try to keep the conversation flowing afterward, but that brick of jealousy doesn’t let much through.  At least, he figures, once they say goodbye here, Baekhyun will go back to being the hot neighbor he never interacts with.

\--

**Friday**

He’d be wrong, of course.  He always is about things like this.

There’s a pounding on his door in the middle of _The Great British Bake-Off,_ a pattern he doesn’t recognize, which means it could be just about anyone.  The landlord’s the only one with a distinctive knock, but she’s more likely to just walk in, anyway.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, Jongin finds Baekhyun on the other side of the door, dressed up in a soft grey button down and black slacks, and gorgeous blue tie definitely working its magic as a subliminal arrow.  There’s a bundle of clothes in his arms.

“Okay, so,” he says, already starting to push his way into Jongin’s apartment, Jongin easily yielding to him, “I have another date tonight, but we’re going to, like, this hipster-casual place?  I have no fucking clue what to wear – I have ideas, but I don’t know what will really fit.”  He takes half a second to breathe and start spreading his clothes out on the floor before turning around, right in Jongin’s personal space.  “And you’re, like, really good at dressing yourself.  Like, you look really nice when you’re not in your work blues, so I figured, who better to ask for help picking an outfit.  So, what do you say?”

It’s such a rush of words that Jongin almost misses the accidental compliment.  “Sure, no problem.  Uh, what are we looking at?”

“Awesome.  So, I’ve got some outfits already but…”  Baekhyun narrates as he spreads the clothing out on the floor, several different pairs of skinny jeans in various dyes and states of distress paired with t-shirts and sweaters and even some casual button downs.  Jongin personally prefers the sweaters, but he’s absolutely here for the chance to dress for Baekhyun’s particular assets and gently steers him towards a layered look.

“I think either of these,” Jongin says, “but I really can’t tell which one without seeing them on…”

“Of course!” Baekhyun says brightly, jumping to his feet.  “Just a minute.”

Jongin had _meant_ for Baekhyun to take the outfits into another room to change, but he’d forgotten to account for Baekhyun’s complete disregard for a little thing called _privacy_ , apparently.  He finds he really can’t complain, though, when it means he gets to see Baekhyun’s lean body without guilt.  For a man with a relatively lazy job and lifestyle, he has surprising defined muscles along his torso, even some of his ribs showing.  _Lucky man, that Chanyeol_ , Jongin thinks, _getting to see this on a regular basis_.  Tries to keep his thoughts above the belt.  Desperately.

The first outfit is nice, but it isn’t _right_ , Jongin decides.  The lazy heather button down doesn’t hug Baekhyun’s shoulders quite right, although the distressed black jeans _definitely_ have the tears in the right places and the minimalistic grey t-shirt hugs perfectly.

“Here, try this one instead,” he says, holding out a well-worn warm blue shirt, “Yeah, unbuttoned like that.  And, like this.”  He takes advantage of the situation to get his hands on Baekhyun’s gorgeous, veined arms.  “Roll the sleeves up like this.  You’ve got good arms, so show them off.”  He steps back and rakes his eyes up and down Baekhyun’s body.  “That looks _fantastic_ ,” he whispers.

Baekhyun’s laugh feels like he’s taken it as a compliment.  He is bending down to tie on his converse when his phone sounds loudly from its place in the pile of clothes.

“Shit,” he says, looking down at the screen, “I’m totally late!  Chanyeol’s down in the lobby, thanks so much, see you later!” he yells as he runs out the door, leaving Jongin in a pile of Baekhyun’s clothes.

\--

**Tuesday**

His phone rings two minutes before his train is scheduled to arrive, so he takes the chance to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hey Jongin!  When are you going to come visit?  You always say you’re going to and then you never do.  The kids would love to see you, and so would your sister, you know.”

Jongin shakes his head, but he can’t keep the smile out of his voice as he answers his sister.  “You know I’d love to, Jongah, but work and everything, you know.  Why don’t you ever come visit me?”

“You always say that!  I’ve got work _and_ kids, you’ve only got work.  _You_ need to come see _me_.  Plus, I’ve know some cute boys I could introduce you to,” she singsongs.

“Ah, come on.  I’m too busy, and it’s not like I’m lacking in friends.  Wait a moment, that’s my train.”

Once the clattering stops and he’s fully on the train, Jongah jumps straight into the conversation again.  “Sure you do, Jongin.  How come I’ve never met any of them?”

“Because you never come to visit?  I hang out with them a lot.”

“Right.”

And he doesn’t know why he feels such a need to prove himself to her.  Maybe it’s the little brother in him.  “I do!  There’s one, Baekhyun, he’s at my house a _lot_.  Like twice a week.”  And that is absolutely _not_ a lie, but Jongah doesn’t particularly need to know that Baekhyun only shows up to pick out outfits for his dates – and to pick up the clothes he’s left behind the last time.

“Oh?  Baekhyun?  Who?  Tell me more,” Jongah demands.

Jongin leans out of the way of a man with particularly sharp elbows as he answers, “There really isn’t anything to say.  He comes and we hang out.”  Quickly redirects the conversation, “So why did you really call?”

“Well, there’s this bitch at work…” Jongah begins a long tirade about the past week at work, including stolen lunches and a petty post-it prank.  Jongin’s just keying into his building when she finally gives it up, distracted by a little voice yelling for her from another room.  “Hey, it’s great talking, but I gotta – “

“Yeah, go, take care of her,” Jongin says, utterly thankful for the break, and lets himself up to his apartment, surprised by the lack of Baekhyun at his door.  They’d normally stop to talk in the hall as they’re both getting home from work but – oh, that’d be it – it’s only 4:30.  Baekhyun doesn’t even get off work for another half hour.

\--

**Saturday**

The phone wakes him from a ridiculously deep nap, upside down on his couch.  He startles himself onto the floor, neck aching from the strange angle, and answers the phone.

“Jongin Jongin it’s an emergency.”

And does Jongin know that voice anywhere, by this point.  It’s been an outright month of weekly visits and daily chats with the hottest man he’s ever lived near.  “What’sa matter, Baekhyun?”

“Okay, so, I know this is really last minute, but it’s an emergency, I have a date at eight and –“

“Let me guess, you need help on an outfit?  You can just come on over.”

“No!  Well, I guess, yes, I do need help on the outfit but that’s not all!  So, I’ve got this date, right, at eight tonight, and I know it’s, like, only two hours away, but Chanyeol just told me we’re going out with most of his roommates, and I’m really not comfortable being with just his friends, you know?  So, I was really wondering if you would want to go with me?  Even if you don’t want to, I’m still going to be over in minute to get ready, I’m just at the lobby now.”

What is he even supposed to do with that?  Give up a chance to go on a date – no matter how communal – with Baekhyun?  Even if it means seeing Baekhyun with his boyfriend.  “I’m in, no problem.”

“Great!  Awesome!  I was wanting to wear my Henley – you know the one, with the grey and blue but not the big stain – and I thought I left it at your house…”

Jongin picks the shirt in question off of his chest.  “Uh, yeah.  I’ve got it.  And the black pants with the thigh distressing.  That’s probably what you want to wear with it, right?”

“Exactly!  Okay, I’m here.”

Jongin opens the door to find an absolutely beaming Baekhyun who nearly drops his phone in his rush to give him a big hug.  Jongin leans into it, well used to Baekhyun’s affection now.  Once released, he turns to the couch and pulls the Henley and the jeans from the veritable mountain of Baekhyun’s clothes building up against its side.  “Here,” he offers.

Baekhyun takes the clothes excitedly and starts changing.  As usual, Jongin takes the moment to check him out.  He doesn’t even try to hide it any more – Baekhyun seems to openly invite gawking, with the way he likes to display his body at nearly all times.  Baekhyun dutifully pushes his sleeves up once he’s dressed, displaying those beautiful veins and tendons Jongin loves so much, and then ushers Jongin into his bedroom.

Baekhyun tries to input into Jongin’s dress, but Jongin doesn’t listen a lot.  He already knows what he’s most comfortable in, and what’s going to make him look the best – maybe good enough to give Chanyeol a run for his money – and dresses down in nice jeans and a slightly oversized sweater that drops off his shoulder if he moves in just the right way.  He does, however, acquiesce to Baekhyun’s insistence on putting some eyeliner and concealer on both of them – concealer Baekhyun had goaded Jongin into purchasing just a week before.  He has to admit that the makeup does him nothing but favors, even in the harsh lighting of his apartment.

They leave the apartment at about 7:30, giving themselves plenty of time to catch the subway to Fifth Run, the bar Chanyeol liked best.  They find it tucked away in a bundle of other buildings.

“You know,” Baekhyun says as he holds the door for Jongin, “rumor has it this place was, like, a speakeasy or bootlegger or something during Prohibition.”

“Is that why it’s so hard to find?” Jongin asks and is gratified by Baekhyun’s easy smile.

The bar itself is small, dark, and over-crowded for 8:00 on a Saturday.  Old music vibrates through the floor and throngs of people as Baekhyun grabs an overwhelmed Jongin’s hand and drags him across the floor, apparently having seen someone he recognizes.  They stop in front of a table where four men already sit with beers.  Baekhyun releases Jongin’s hand and goes to lean into the tallest’s side before introducing Jongin to Chanyeol.

When Baekhyun falters at introducing the other men, Chanyeol slides in easily, with easily one of the smoothest, deepest voices Jongin has ever heard, and no wonder Baekhyun likes the guy.  “It’s great to meet you, Jongin,” he says.  “Baekhyun talks about you a lot.  I’m glad he’s found someone else willing to put up with him.”  He winks conspiratorially.  “Anyway, these are my housemates.  That one’s Sehun,” he points across the table to a blond man, “Next to him’s Yixing, and this one is Kyungsoo.”

“What about the other one, uhm, what was his name?  You have four housemates, right?”  Baekhyun asks, and Jongin’s relieved to find that Baekhyun is just as rapid fire with Chanyeol as he is with Jongin.

“Minseok.  Yeah, he’s sleeping.  He’s a nurse, remember?  He was on shift the last three days.”

“Oh, that’s right.  Jongin, you want something to drink?”  Baekhyun is already flagging down a bartender before he even asks.

\--

The bar lasts all of half an hour before the atmosphere is deemed too oppressive and the group go seeking the relative freedom of the house.  Relative freedom they make it too rather easily, barring a two-hour-long detour to the supermarket in search of grub and booze.  There’s enough of them that even the ridiculous amount of purchase is easy to carry the rest of the way to the house.

The party spreads out so quickly once inside the house that Jongin isn’t quite sure what’s happening, but soon enough there’s drinks in his hands and a game running on the television and a small, very foul-tempered and foul-mouthed man stomping down the stairs and stealing several of the Smirnoffs off the table.

He’s pretty sure he drinks too much too fast because soon everything is little more than a kaleidoscope blur and he’s sitting on Chanyeol’s living room floor with a very excited Baekhyun sprawled half in his lap and playing whatever fighting game is in the console.

Jongin has to lean back when his phone rings, trying to find a relatively quiet place to stick his head while not disturbing Baekhyun.  “Yessss?”

“Wow, Jongin, you’re a mess,” his sister says, and Jongin groans.

“I’m, I’m at a party.  I’m allowed.”

Jongah laughs.  “Yes, yes.  Who are you with?  Baekhyun?  Are you with that Baekhyun, huh?”

“Yep!” Baekhyun chirps from Jongin’s lap and _wow_ he didn’t realize they were quite that close.

“Wow, okay, is that him?  That’s him, isn’t it!  I’m gonna let you two be, then,” Jongah promptly hangs up.

And there is absolutely no way, Jongin knows, that Jongah hasn’t taken this this wrong way.  He _knows_.

He also knows that Baekhyun probably definitely shouldn’t be hanging all over him like this when his boyfriend is literally right there, lounging across the back of the sofa, but Chanyeol doesn’t seem to mind, so why should he?

\--

**Saturday**

“Thanks again for doing this, Baekhyun,” Jongin says as he lets the man into his house.  “I don’t know where she got the idea we were dating, but she doesn’t let go of things, and it’s just easier this way.  It’s only for a day, and Chanyeol doesn’t mind, right?”

Baekhyun smiles.  “Yeah, he really doesn’t care.  He really thinks it’s super funny.  We’re, like, making the apartment, like, guest-ready, right?”

Jongin assents and they get to work straightening up the absolute mess.

“Hey, do you have like a free drawer or something?  I really don’t think Jongah wants to see my boxers,” Baekhyun asks, holding an armful of his clothes.  Jongin points him at the wardrobe in his bedroom at returns to making Baekhyun’s dvd collection stand up neatly next to his own meagre one.

Jongah arrives just as they’ve thrown the last pillow onto Jongin’s bed.  She dumps her suitcase on the couch.

“Hey, Jongin.  Super thanks again for letting me stay here tonight.  I’ll be out of your hair really early tomorrow – the flight leaves at seven.”

“No problem, Jongah,” Jongin says as he goes to hug her.  “So, what do you have planned for us today?”

Jongah pulls out her phone and starts rattling off a list.

It’s a long day of specialty shops and little restaurants on streets Jongin didn’t even know existed before they drop onto his floor in an exhausted heap.  His stomach is in knots and his knees have been weak all day and he honestly isn’t sure if he ate something bad or if it’s just the way Baekhyun’s been poking and playing and flirting with him blatantly in front of the whole world.  _It’s almost cruel_ , he thinks.  Baekhyun has a boyfriend and it absolutely isn’t him.

He’s about to let Baekhyun out when Jongah jumps in.  “You’re not seriously kicking out your boyfriend just because I’m here?”

“He, he doesn’t actually live here.”

“That’s bullshit, Jongin, you’ve really got to learn to lie better than that!  His stuff’s all over the place.”

Jongin can’t find a way out of that, because Baekhyun really _does_ have stuff everywhere.  He wonders when that happened.

But he really wishes he could have done, because sharing a bed with The World’s Biggest Snuggler – i.e., one Byun Baekhyun – is literal hell.  He can feel every single inch of Baekhyun pressing against him.  Including _those_ inches.  He can only hope desperately that his own inches aren’t making themselves known _quite_ so drastically.  And that his body eventually decides he’s too stressed to be awake and knocks him out.  Heaven knows he’s not doing it himself.

\--

**Sunday**

Jongin wakes up to a conspicuous absence of one warm body and an unsettlingly loud conversation outside his door.  He slides out of bed and lumbers over to the door.  Finds Baekhyun, unsurprisingly, on the phone with Chanyeol.  He quickly finds himself to the bathroom in an effort to hide his upset.

It shouldn’t affect him like this, he knows, they were only pretending for his sister, and Baekhyun and Chanyeol have been dating for _months_ , of course they’d have an early morning phone call when they’ve been away for a while.  He certainly shouldn’t be _jealous_.  _Protective_ , even.  Chanyeol’s great, and he likes him, and he’s really good to Baekhyun and Jongin _shouldn’t care_.

Apparently, he still hasn’t managed to get his emotions in check by the time he exits the bathroom half an hour later, because Baekhyun is quick on him and clingy.

“What’s wrong?”

“Jongah didn’t even say goodbye,” he tries.

“You couldn’t wait for her to get,” Baekhyun points out.  “Is it me?  Are you jealous that you don’t have _all this_ ,” he gestures down his half-naked body, “and Chanyeol does?”

It is way too fucking early for Baekhyun to be pulling this shit, Jongin decides.  Especially when he could have pulled it _literally any other time_ but didn’t.  He tells Baekhyun as much.

“Well, geez, calm down.”

“Either shut up or get out.  I’m tired.”  Jongin turns irately to the counter, intent on finding out _where the fuck_ he left his coffee pot.

“No, wait, Jongin, you didn’t let me finish!”  Baekhyun edges around him, into his side.  “I was _going_ to say, if you _are jealous_ , you don’t have to be.”

Jongin sighs.  This is going absolutely nowhere he likes.  “Why.”

“Because I liked being boyfriends yesterday and I’d like to keep being boyfriends if you want?”

And. That.  Does not process.  “You have a boyfriend.”

“Well, actually,” Baekhyun starts in that annoying little lilt he does right before he makes the _stupidest_ comment possible, “we kind of broke up, like, two months ago.  I’ve just been waiting to ask you out until, like, I knew you wanted to go out with me?”

That is _absolutely_ the stupidest thing Jongin has ever heard and he _really doesn’t care_.

Jongin kisses Baekhyun, hard, and hopes that’s enough.

**Author's Note:**

> [talk to me](http://anenigmaticsmile.tumblr.com)


End file.
